Reviews

Captain Corelli has received some really harsh reviews, but it really isn't that bad. It's obvious what the problem was, the book was just not transferable onto screen. It couldn't possibly of been crammed into 2 hours, but then any longer and some would've found it too bum numbing. Needless to say, the scenery and score were just perfect. So Nic Cage's accent was dodgy, but apart from that I thought he was perfect for the part. He was exactly as I imagined Corelli to be, quite dorky but kind. For some reason, I've always thought of him like this, even after watching Con Air and Face Off. I was especially impressed with Penelope Cruz. I've never seen her in a thing, and after appearing in all those gossip columns with Tom Cruise, I foolishly thought she was just another average actress with good looks. But she was suprisingly good. I think people mistook her for being wooden when she was just trying to play her role down (nothing worse than a war damsel over-acting, how cheesy). Despite other comments, I fail to see what was so good about John Hurt. Place any other old man in his role, Ian McKellen etc, and I'm sure there would be no big difference. It's not that hard to play a wise, expressionless, old man, especially if you're old and a man. Outstanding acting came from Christian Bale. He played his part with so much emotion, I was quite suprised after American Psycho, and it made me very sad when Pelagia left him for Corelli (though one can't really see why...Pelagia goes from being in love with Mandras to practically finding him annoying, she only manages a weak "sorry" and not even any tears!) I also thought the Mandras' mother was played really well. But here are the bad points. What the hell happened to the character of Carlo?! *SPOILER* I can understand why the movie left the homosexual bit out, but his close friendship with Corelli was practically non-existent. And it can't make sense to anyone who hadn't read the book why he'd suddenly step in front of Corelli when all the Italians were being shot and save him, when the two had barely exchanged words throughout the whole film.

Another major point...the chemistry between the two leads. I fail to see any whatsoever. In fact, I agree with another commenter, the only loving scenes were between Mandras and Pelagia at the beginning. This made the film lose some of its intensity. All in all, good novel adaption, quite a good film. 8/10

*SPOILERS*

I've been reading other comments on American Psycho, and it seems as if there are a lot of people disagreeing about stuff. Well, I think that's just what the director wanted - to create a film that people would remember, discuss, debate, whether or not they liked it, and that's what we've all been doing! I don't think it was made for people to "like", more to give insight and provoke. But anyways, I really liked it. There's something really funny about a well to do guy saying lines like, "I like to dissect girls, did you know I'm utterly insane?" right in front of peoples faces. Little do they know.... The plot is almost non-existent, and to be honest, I didn't really care about it. There's more to this movie than that, I just found it really interesting watching Patrick's life roll by and the wierd way he lives it. I guess you have to have a certain amount of intelligence and open-mindedness to get a film like this. I like to think that Bateman actaully did kill all those people...and the b**tard got away with it, just cause he did. Cause no one ever suspected him or whatever, it's a better ending than, "it was all in his head." The film is quite disturbing with the explicit sex scenes and violence (actually, although I am naturally squemish, I didn't think there wasn't as much gore as everyone made out to be), but it's sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. Like the part where Bateman's with the two prostitutes and he's going into detail about PHIL COLLINS of all people, and at the same time instructing the women into positions. Or when we see just the utter madness of him when he gets totally manic over a fellow collegue having a better business card. There's something appealing about Bateman, even though he's a pretentious prick who is obsessed with vanity, sex and murder.

Special praise for Christian Bale, he is not only one fine looking actor, but his mannerisms and facial expressions give Bateman that supressed madness look. 10/10 for a wicked film. Check out the scene where he's about to axe Paul Allen, his prancing about to the music is hilarious.

When I read the synopsis for "Messiah" in the television guide, I was not prepared for what was in store. The story follows DCI Metcalfe trying to solve a case of grisly murders being taken out across London. He soon realises a pattern, there is a serial killer on the loose, killing people with similar names and jobs to those of the 12 Apostles and their killings are identical to their matching Apostle. The two part series kept me right on the edge of my seat, with Metcalfe closely pursuing the killer, but always missing him within a couple of seconds and discovering the gruesome mess he has left behind of his ill-fated victim. "Messiah" is sure to cause a great deal of controversy, but nonetheless it is the greatest piece of drama the BBC has shown in a long time.